Editing Industrial robot (section)

== Health and safety ==
{{main|Workplace robotics safety}}

The [[International Federation of Robotics]] has predicted a worldwide increase in adoption of industrial robots and they estimated 1.7 million new robot installations in factories worldwide by 2020 [https://ifr.org/industrial-robots/statistics/ &#91;IFR 2017&#93;] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211081030/https://ifr.org/industrial-robots/statistics/ |date=2017-02-11 }}. Rapid advances in automation technologies (e.g. fixed robots, collaborative and mobile robots, and exoskeletons) have the potential to improve work conditions but also to introduce workplace hazards in manufacturing workplaces.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24649|title=Information Technology and the U.S. Workforce: Where Are We and Where Do We Go from Here?|last1=Technology|first1=Committee on Information|last2=Automation|last3=Workforce|first3=and the U.S.|last4=Board|first4=Computer Science and Telecommunications|last5=Sciences|first5=Division on Engineering and Physical|last6=Sciences|first6=National Academies of|last7=Engineering|last8=Medicine|first8=and|date=2017-03-16|isbn=9780309454025|language=en|doi=10.17226/24649}}</ref> [https://oshwiki.eu/wiki/A_review_on_the_future_of_work:_robotics]   Despite the lack of occupational surveillance data on injuries associated specifically with robots, researchers from the US [[National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health]] (NIOSH) identified 61 robot-related deaths between 1992 and 2015 using keyword searches of the [[Bureau of Labor Statistics]] (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries research database (see info from [https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/robotics/aboutthecenter.html Center for Occupational Robotics Research]). Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, NIOSH and its state partners have investigated 4 robot-related fatalities under the [https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/face/brochure.html Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program].  In addition the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has investigated dozens of robot-related deaths and injuries, which can be reviewed at [https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/AccidentSearch.search?acc_keyword=%22Robot%22&keyword_list=on OSHA Accident Search page]. Injuries and fatalities could increase over time because of the increasing number of collaborative and co-existing robots, powered exoskeletons, and autonomous vehicles into the work environment.

Safety standards are being developed by the [https://www.robotics.org/ Robotic Industries Association] (RIA) in conjunction with the [[American National Standards Institute]] (ANSI).[https://www.robotics.org/robotic-standards] On October 5, 2017, OSHA, NIOSH and RIA signed an [https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/alliances/ria/ria.html alliance] to work together to enhance technical expertise, identify and help address potential workplace hazards associated with traditional industrial robots and the emerging technology of human-robot collaboration installations and systems, and help identify needed research to reduce workplace hazards. On October 16 NIOSH launched the [https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/robotics/default.html Center for Occupational Robotics Research] to "provide scientific leadership to guide the development and use of occupational robots that enhance worker safety, health, and wellbeing."  So far, the research needs identified by NIOSH and its partners include: tracking and preventing injuries and fatalities, intervention and dissemination strategies to promote safe machine control and maintenance procedures, and on translating effective evidence-based interventions into workplace practice.